Darlington Building Society’s Lynn Marriott swapped banking for baking to volunteer at a local Dementia Café.
The Society encourages its staff to commit to two working days per year to carry out voluntary work in the community and Lynn, a customer service consultant at its Bishop Auckland branch, used one of her days to volunteer at the Memory Lane Dementia Café hosted at Cornerstone Christian Centre in Evenwood.
During her day volunteering, Lynn, who lives in Evenwood, served the café’s patrons some of her home-baked goodies, spent some time listening to their stories and joined in with activities which test skills affected by dementia, such as hand and eye co-ordination and numeracy.
In addition, the Society has made a £100 donation from its Community Fund, which was established to support local causes as part of Darlington Building Society’s 160th anniversary celebrations.
Dementia Cafes provide a safe and supportive environment for people with dementia and their carers to socialise, take part in activities designed to help delay the onset of dementia, and is also a chance for those with dementia to get information and advice from others with similar problems.
Lynn said: “Darlington Building Society encourages all of its staff to take time out of the business to support local organisations. As I only live down the road from the Dementia Café I’ve seen how popular the sessions are and I wanted to use my volunteering day to support this fantastic local initiative.
“I had a great time and got to speak with some very interesting people. It was fantastic to see how much the cafes benefit people living with dementia and their carers.”