Plymouth Dementia Awareness Day

Plymouth residents and organisations will be able to find out more about dementia as part of a Dementia Awareness Day next week.

There will be free one hour dementia awareness sessions throughout the day on Wednesday 24 February between 10am and 4pm. The event has been organised jointly by Plymouth City Council, Plymouth Dementia Action Alliance and the Healthy High Streets Group.

People will be able to climb on board the Plymouth Citybus Chatterbus at the piazza on Armada Way, or pop into Barclays and find out more about dementia, between 10 and 11am, 2pm to 3pm and 3pm to 4pm. You will also be able to speak to staff from the Alzheimer’s Society, Carer’s Hub, St Luke’s, Plymouth Central Library, Thompson and Jackson Solicitors, and Horizon Hypnotherapy and Counselling, for information and advice. The Big Screen at the piazza will also be showing dementia-related film clips throughout the day.

Councillor Ian Tuffin, Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care at Plymouth City Council said: “We are very pleased to be able to host this awareness day in Plymouth and we encourage local people to come and take part. There are 3,000 people living with a diagnosis of dementia in Plymouth and this is predicted to rise to 3264 by 2020, so it is vital that we continue to do all we can to raise awareness and help people.

“For the past few years Plymouth City Council, working as part of the Dementia Action Alliance, has been dedicated to helping Plymouth become a more Dementia friendly city. We recently introduced our first ever Dementia Friendly parking spaces in two of our car parks and this event is the latest in a series of high profile events to help raise the profile of dementia and ensure more people know how they can support people with dementia. We are also encouraging more businesses to sign up to become Dementia Friendly.”

Ian Sherriff, chair of the P.D.A.A and a member of the Prime Minister Dementia Friendly Challenge group added: “As someone who is totally committed to helping society tackle the many challenges that people with dementia and their carers face daily, I am really excited about the news that Plymouth is holding a dementia awareness day.

He continued: “There is widespread recognition at the highest level of government about the present and potential future impacts of dementia. The search for ways to enhance the quality of life for those affected is a constant and complex one. Plymouth City thought holding awareness days will provide a body of knowledge that has the potential to open up new ways that the community can understand and support people with dementia and their carers.”

Benefits for organisations of becoming Dementia Friendly:

• It will help you attract new customers. The number of people living independently with dementia is increasing. They will use the businesses that are easiest to use.
• It will reduce delays for staff and customers, with and without dementia. Providing staff who are unsure how to best serve customers with dementia, with the skills they need, will help your business run comfortably for both staff and customers.

More information:

For more information and FREE support on becoming a dementia friendly organisation and to book a place on one of the FREE one hour dementia awareness sessions contact Claire Puckey on 01752 398922 or email claire.puckey@plymouth.gov.uk
Plymouth City Council has a Dementia Friendly Toolkit to provide organisations with guidance and information on how to become more Dementia Friendly. This can be downloaded from the Council website at: www.plymouth.gov.uk/dementia