The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, came to visit the work of Caraway at our Sholing Memory Cafe and Carers Course on the 26th October. He was keen to meet people living with Dementia and hear their stories.
Arriving with Bishop Philip of Winchester and the Archbishop’s Assistant, the Archbishop wasted no time in getting stuck in and chatting to people. He enjoyed a jigsaw with one guest, looked through childhood photographs with another, and chatted away to a French couple, in French!
After speaking with people on each table, the Archbishop joined a mini session of the our Caraway Course for Carers in the church.
The theme was about moving along the journey of many losses and stresses, and we looked at taking small steps to improve quality of life for both carer and the person with dementia. It also touched on acceptance, recognising that there is a place of despair involved too.
The Archbishop then spoke to the carers and shared how he had felt as a son looking after an alcoholic father; how alone he felt. He reflected on the process of bargaining, despair and acceptance, relating this to Jesus’ experiences in the time leading up to his death. He offered words of encouragement to the Carers and spoke of his appreciation of the support Caraway is able to offer families living with Dementia.
Margaret Hague, one of our Anna Chaplains said:
“I felt quite touched by the afternoon and it had quite an impact on me. I was really taken with the Archbishop’s humility and the fact that he was so ‘in the moment’ when asked to pray at the end of the Carer’s session. The way he talked about his own experience and about Jesus – and the way he affirmed the work of Caraway was just so special. It was a pleasure to be there.”
It was a great honour to be selected for the Archbishop to come to meet people living with dementia, and their carers. There was great excitement, and Sarah, the cafe lead and her lovely volunteers, Sheila and Nita provided wonderful cakes and refreshments, Thank you!
The Sholing Memory Café is one of the nine memory cafes a month that take place around Southampton, supported by 12 Chaplains and 80 volunteers. We hope the recognition of this visit helps everyone who contributes to this massive service in Southampton to the Dementia Community feel similarly honoured, encouraged and endorsed by his interest.
