National Award for Community Support in Diss

Diss United Reformed Church wins the URC 2025 Community Project award for the Dove Dementia Café initiative, Ruth Bridges the church's Community Worker reports. 

Diss United Reformed Church has long been happy to provide community support to those living in the Diss area. We are pleased with the support of many fantastic volunteers to run five Dove community groups: Dove Dementia Café, Dove Song, Dove Afternoon Tea, Dove Song Plus and Dovelets. These groups provide tailored support to those with Dementia and their carers, adults with complex needs and children with special needs and their parents.
 
Earlier this year, our church entered the United Reformed Church Community Project Award - sponsored by Congregational Insurance. After being shortlisted, two judges visited our Dove Dementia Cafe, observed a session, and spoke with members and volunteers. A few weeks later, we were delighted to learn that we had won.
 
Gabrielle Pagan (a Dove Dementia Café founder) and I attended the General Assembly on Saturday 5th July. We received a wonderful plaque which is now displayed at our church entrance, along with a generous cheque to help us continue supporting our local community.

Dove Dementia Café is held monthly for people living with dementia and their carers. The café opened its doors in January 2015 to just one person with dementia, but now regularly hosts between 50 and 60 people for lunch, supported by a team of 20 volunteers.

For more information on the Dove Dementia Cafe contact Ruth on Email: rthbridges@gmail.com

Note
In 2025, seven church projects offering outstanding service to their communities have received awards from the United Reformed Church (URC). The URC’s Community Awards partner for the past 16 years has been the insurance company Congregational. This year, Congregational has funded awards of £2,000 for each of the three winning projects and four awards of £1,000 for four Highly Commended projects. Since its inception, this brings the number of churches that have received awards to 82 who have received a total of £150,000. The Revd Tim Meadows, Moderator of the URC General Assembly, said the awards recognise projects that “demonstrate the love of God and the mission of the Church by reaching out in many different ways to help the local communities in which our churches serve”.
 
Photo of Gabrielle Pagan and Ruth Bridges, courtesy of URC
 
Article posted by Dr Ian Watson