Supporting vulnerable members

This week is Dementia Action Week (20th - 26th May), an opportunity to unite individuals, workplaces, and communities to take action to understand and improve the lives of people who are living with dementia.
 
As new members of the Croydon Dementia Action Alliance, we’re actively promoting the week of events in Croydon, which will include dances, live music and cinema screenings, as part of our Dementia Friends programme.

Over 100 employees have taken Dementia Friends training

Every three minutes, someone in the UK develops dementia. This means that almost all of us knows someone who is affected, and it doesn't just affect old people.
 
“The fact that 1 in 14 people over the age of 65 in the UK are living with dementia means we may have more than 13,000 members who are living with dementia,” said Trevor Davis from our Vulnerable Members Working Group.

This is why last year we partnered with the Alzheimer'sSociety and Croydon Dementia Action Alliance, to roll out a programme of Dementia Friends awareness training. The aim is to help our member-facing employees to recognise and effectively support some of our more vulnerable members.

“The Dementia Friends programme is the biggest ever initiative to change peoples' perceptions of dementia”, added Trevor. “It aims to transform the way the nation thinks, acts and talks about dementia. To date, over 100 employees have been through the training”

“By fully understanding what dementia is, what causes it and how it affects our members, we can tailor our communications to suit their needs” said our Dementia Friends Champion, Gavin Perrottet.

We’re continuing to roll out the training to all of our member-facing employees and will be sharing best practice with other local organisations.

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