Dementia Friends in the news this week

Fire service 'dementia friends'

Via Cornish Times [24 May 2017]

Firefighters in Cornwall have been given expert insight into helping people with dementia. Dementia Friends Champions from Social Care and Health at The Cornwall College Group visited Cornwall Fire, Rescue and Community Safety (CFRCS) Service to educate staff and talk about how they could help change people’s perceptions of dementia.

Dementia Friends  was launched to tackle the stigma and lack of understanding that means many people with the condition experience loneliness and social exclusion. Many CFRCS stations are now a ‘dementia friend’.

Click to read the full story 



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Staff at Burnham-on-Sea Specsavers take on training to become more dementia aware

Via Thisisthewestcountry.co.uk [24 May 2017]

Staff at Specsavers in Burnham-on-Sea have become more dementia aware after completing dementia training.
Specsavers employees nationwide have made an effort to better understand the needs of customers suffering from the condition by completing Dementia Friends training through an initiative run by the Alzheimers Society.



Staff at the Burnham-on-Sea store are now wearing badges on their uniforms to indicate their increased level dementia awareness to customers.
Rama Venkat, store director of Specsavers in Burnham-on-Sea said: "Being more aware of dementia is an incredibly positive development for our team and our offering to customers.

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10,000 Cardiff British Gas Employees Trained as “Dementia Friends”

Via Business News Wales [24 May 2017]

To mark Dementia Awareness Week (15-21 May), British Gas is announcing that more than 10,000 employees – a third of its workforce – have now received bespoke training to help support customers with dementia, including staff at its contact centre in Cardiff.



British Gas serves around 10 million homes across Britain and estimates that at least 100,000 customers live alone, in their own homes, with the condition. Many others live with partners who also have dementia or other serious health conditions. British Gas made the commitment to become a fully dementia-friendly organisation in January last year. The company partnered with Alzheimer’s Society in England and Wales and Alzheimer Scotland to create a bespoke version of the renowned Dementia Friends scheme for its employees.

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GP practice staff in Radcliffe have trained to become Dementia Friends

Via The Bolton News [25  May 2017]

STAFF at a new GP practice in Radcliffe have trained to become Dementia Friends as part of an initiative to offer innovative, forward-thinking care to patients. Members of the team from the Rock @Radcliffe practice, which is based at the Radcliffe Primary Care Centre Centre on Church Street West in the town, took part in the session to mark Dementia Awareness Week.



The practice, which opened in April, hopes the training will give staff the skills to better understand and support patients and members of the community who live with the condition. Led by Laura Roberts, Chair of Bury Dementia Action Alliance, the session offered staff an insight into what it’s like to live with dementia and provided advice and guidance on the help they can provide to people who have the condition.

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Bradford's circle of dementia friends is growing

Via Telegraph & Argus [26 May 2017]

A SINGING club at a Bradford church is just one of many projects helping the city lead the way in being dementia-friendly. The Wednesday Warblers, who meet weekly at St Theresa’s Church in Queensbury, is among a number of local initiatives helping make Bradford’s circle of dementia friends grow.
Since a partnership started five years ago between the Alzheimer’s Society and Bradford Council, community projects have been running across all five of the district’s constituencies.



There are 110 organisations that have signed up to become ‘dementia-friendly’ through training and awareness-raising sessions and there are also 23 wellbeing cafes run for people with dementia and their carers, giving them an opportunity to share experiences.

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Local business sets ‘Dementia Friend’ Recruitment Record in Leeds, Sheffield and Manchester

Via Bdaily.co.uk [26 May 2017]

Local Care Force, which has offices in Sheffield, Leeds and Manchester, has recruited a record number of people to become dementia friends to help people with the condition. The company appealed to people to sign up as volunteer dementia friends during Dementia Awareness Week and has successfully recruited over 150 people across the North.

The family-run business, which specialises in training and developing social and healthcare workers, is committed to uniting against dementia with the support of the Alzheimer’s Society.

Click to read the full story 



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Peterston WI members aim to tackle dementia

Via The Barry Gem [26 May 2017]

At the second annual general meeting, of Peterston WI, after the business meeting had concluded and our committee had been elected, we held a session for our members to become ‘Dementia Friends’.



Our president, Helen Cahill and another WI member, Judith Morris, recently became Dementia Champions, enabling them to deliver Dementia Friend sessions; and everyone was keen to join in. The session fitted well with our support for the WI’s 2017 national loneliness resolution and as a community we are also getting involved in supporting the Dementia Cafe being set up locally.

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Solicitor tours the UK to make new Dementia Friends

Via Chichester Observer  [27 May 2017]

A solicitor from Chichester has helped create 424 new Dementia Friends in a bid to help her national law firm become one of the most dementia-friendly legal businesses in the UK. Senior associate solicitor Catherine Diamond, who works for Irwin Mitchell Private Wealth’s Elderly & Vulnerable Client team, is a Dementia Friends Champion who delivers training, as part of an initiative run by the Alzheimer’s Society, based on changing the public’s perception of the condition.

Catherine, who specialises in providing later life legal advice for individuals and their families, swapped her day job in favour of touring the firm’s offices in Southampton and Gatwick, and delivering training via video link to the office in Glasgow to 108 colleagues. Catherine joined forces with fellow Dementia Friends Champion and Newbury based colleague, solicitor, Ben Saunders, who split the tour of 12 offices between them.

Click to read the full story 



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