Grand launch of Emporium and Tea room

We are delighted to announce the launch of our new look tea room and emporium both designed in a dementia friendly way. Tea room opening hours are now 10am to 4pm Mondays to Thursdays and 10am to 1pm on Fridays. Everything is part of a larger project covering all Community Hospitals in West Kent. The group has worked closely with Grahame Hardy, the Dementia Lead for KCHFT who spearheaded the project. 

Friends Chairman Ian Philip said: “It is great to be here to see the completion of two major projects for us after being pretty inactive for the last 2½ years because of the Covid restrictions. All the money raised by the League goes to the hospital in the form of donations for medical equipment and other items to improve the experiences of the patients and the staff and the Tea Room is one of our main sources of income."

Ian said he was “delighted” Sevenoaks District Council had also made the Friends a grant to fund the Vintage Sevenoaks Emporium. The Council gave £3,600 and the Friends £3,000. Ian explained: “Previously the Friends provided a reminiscence computer program, RITA, and the Virtual Dementia Tour Bus so this seemed to be a logical follow on”.

The tired side room off the ward has now been refurnished with 1940’s and 1950’s memorabilia with an immensely popular old film display. There is also a vintage convenience store with special sugar-free sweets. Community Health Foundation Trust Mairead McCormick praised the Friends work at the event on September 24. She said how much she welcomed the initiative and the “hugely relevant dementia murals”. They are decorated with splendid matching dementia murals in shades of mauve for the tea room and pink for the emporium. 

* Sevenoaks MP Laura Trott has visited the tea room and emporium and was impressed!