Alzheimers Northland Awareness Week

Cafes pitch in to support Alzheimers Northland

Cafes around Whangarei will sprout forget-me-nots all this week (Monday 26th July to Saturday 1st August) to add their support to Alzheimers Northland by offering patrons the option of adding a donation to the cost of their usual cuppa.

As part of the Alzheimers Northland Awareness Week, café staff will be decorated with forget-me-nots and a cheerful collection container on the counter will remind customers to add a little bit extra to the cost of their purchase. 

The collection containers have been decorated to be highly visible, with clients from the daily Day Centre programme making and attaching stylized forget-me-not flowers similar to the Alzheimers logo to them. “We really want people to think about adding something to their daily cuppa for Alzheimers Northland,” says General Manager Ros Martin.

“We decided to make our containers unmissable – and our activities director, Cheryl Magee thought of this brilliant idea to make them highly visible on a café counter.”

Funds collected during Awareness Week will be used to bridge the gap between government funding and the actual cost of the many services of Alzheimers Northland and will also help to replenish cash and items stolen from the Society’s offices recently.

Alzheimers Northland cares for over 300 people with dementia, their families, whanau and carers in Northland each year. The numbers of people attending the Day Centre programme has increased significantly in the last twelve months.

Alzheimers disease is the most common form of dementia, which occurs as a result of physical changes in the structure of the brain, affecting language, memory, perception, physical function and personality.  It has no cure and diagnosis is rapidly increasing.  By 2050, it is projected that over 145,000 people will have the disease.  More people will be newly diagnosed in the year 2050 than the 40,000 people who have dementia in New Zealand currently.

Cafes involved in the promotion include: BOB, Caffeine, Chill, Deluca, Dickens Inn, Essence, Nectar, Narnia, The Cabbage Tree, The Tea House @ Palmers

Get along to one of these great cafes and have ‘A Cuppa for a Cause’.