Balham Library’s dementia-friendly café celebrate their second anniversary

Balham Library’s dementia-friendly café, now named the Forget-Me-Not Group, celebrated its second anniversary today with cake, crafts, and conversation.

The café meets weekly to provide a welcoming space for people with memory problems and their friends, families and carers, and in two years, the café has gone from strength to strength.

Members can chat over a hot drink and a snack, take part in fun activities such as crafts, and find out about local sources of support. There are also visits from guests who give information and advice on topics such as online safety.

The group has teamed up with social enterprise Social-Ability to provide a ‘Magic Table’, which uses interactive light technology to project images onto a surface, enabling people to play games, listen to music, and interact with pictures.

To mark the anniversary, members worked with Balham Library’s Knit and Natter group to create a beautiful new banner, using material donated by The London Curtain & Blind Co.

Graeme Henderson, Cabinet Member for Health, said: “Groups like Forget-Me-Not are a vital part of the range of services and support available in Wandsworth for people with dementia and their loved ones.

“Many of us know individuals and families that have been affected by dementia, so it’s vital that there are groups like this which enable people to socialise, share their experiences and find out about sources of help.”

The celebration comes in the same week as the launch of Wandsworth’s new Library Strategy 2025-2030, which sets out how we will support community wellbeing, connection and lifelong learning through our 11 local libraries.

Judi Gasser, Cabinet Member for Children, added: “We’re proud that our libraries are such a valuable community hub, providing a wide range of activities, clubs and supportive groups like Forget-Me-Not. I want to congratulate them on their second anniversary and thank them for everything they do for local people.”

Balham Library is a bronze accredited dementia venue as part of the Mayor of London’s Dementia Friendly Venue Charter.

Find out more about dementia, how to prevent it and local sources of support.

If you are interested in going along to the weekly Forget-Me-Not group, ask at Balham library or email balham.library@gll.org.