Senior citizens become Dementia Friends

Jenny Fisher

Members of the Get Together Group – an initiative of the Barking & Dagenham Volunteer Centre for elderly residents aged 55-99 years – have taken part in and completed an information awareness session which enabled the participants to become Dementia Friends.

The group meet at the Ripple Centre on a weekly basis to enjoy recreational activities, sing songs and enjoy dances and discussing topics of interest – as well as indulging in refreshments and a communal lunch. The latest get together saw the group take part in the dementia session in order to promote awareness and understanding of the condition.

The information session was run by Dementia Friends Champion Emdad Rahman, who said: “This is my first group of senior participants. I’m really into engaging with our elders, in a big way. This experience was an eye opener for me, as at least three of the participants in this session are already living with dementia.

“The session was full of wit and humour and I learnt a lot from engaging with this super group. They have forgotten more than I have learnt, and their experience and far greater wisdom were very evident. I’m very pleased to share the news that during this week I have passed the milestone of 1,000 Dementia Friends. This was a highly productive session and I’m comfortable knowing that each and every single participant will be an amazing Dementia Friend.”

Elizabeth Green is a member of the get together group. She said: “I have worked and volunteered in this borough for many decades. I’m so glad that I took part in today’s Dementia Friends meeting. It’s reassuring to know that there are people out there who will look after people like myself and I shall proudly wear my badge at all times.”

Joan Brandon said: “Everybody really enjoyed the Dementia Friends information session and fed back to say they feel a lot happier and understand more about dementia now. We will be looking to get a lot of our service users and partner groups trained up to become dementia friendly.”

•Dementia Friends is a social action movement. It is a trailblazing campaign which helps volunteers to make a difference to the lives of people with dementia. For more information on the activities of the Volunteer Centre in Barking & Dagenham call Lynne on 020-3288 2180.

•For more information on dementia, go to:
www.dementiafriends.org.uk

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