How To Help Dementia Patients!

By 2025, the number of people living with dementia in the UK is expected to exceed one million. What can be done to help them? New research shows that having a job and getting involved in creative projects could be the answer…

- Jheni Osman

So far, so normal. What waitress or waiter doesn’t forget the odd detail on the menu? In fact, our whole meal has been completely hitch-free. Nothing amiss, no spillages… not bad going for a place that calls itself The Restaurant That Makes Mistakes.

This is no ordinary restaurant. It’s run by Michelin-starred chef Josh Eggleton, and all 14 of his chefs and waiting staff are volunteers living with dementia. The pop-up restaurant is the brainchild of CPL Productions, which is filming a Channel 4 series looking at how people with dementia might benefit from staying in work. Celebrities such as Downton Abbey’s Hugh Bonneville have already stopped by for a slap-up meal.

I tucked into mushrooms with lovage, followed by ox cheeks with gratin, then finished off with the aforementioned ice cream. If I didn’t know in advance – and turned a blind eye to the TV camera lurking behind a curtain – I’m not sure I would have noticed anything different about this restaurant.

The volunteers have certainly risen to the challenge. But it hasn’t all been plain sailing. “It’s been stressful, because I’ve had good days and bad days,” Joy tells me. “On a bad day, I can’t think straight, my head is foggy, and everything I do takes 10 times longer. To actually plan anything some days is impossible. Other days, I can get through and enjoy every moment. Today is a positive day.”

NEW PURPOSE