This year’s programme is the city’s biggest yet, with over 30 activities ranging from information and advice sessions to social events and memory cafes.
The highlight of the wide ranging programme, organised by Wolverhampton Dementia Action Alliance and the City of Wolverhampton Council, is an information and advice event in the Mander Centre on Tuesday 21 May from 11am to 2pm. Around 20 providers and agencies will be on hand to give advice on support for people affected by dementia and their carers.
At the same time, people will also be able to become Dementia Friends – and better understand issues facing people living with dementia – by attending one of the free Dementia Friends sessions hosted by HealthWatch Wolverhampton and FBC Manby Bowdler from 11am to 11.45pm and 1.15pm to 2pm; please register your place by contacting Manju Raillay on 01902 556244.
The City of Wolverhampton Council's Trading Standards team will be raising awareness of scams – and how people can prevent themselves from falling victim to fraud – during the week. Officers will be getting involved in a fitness workout at Wednesfield Community Centre on Tuesday 21 May from 7pm to 9pm, holding quizzes at Madame Clarke’s on King Street on Wednesday 22 May from 10.30am to 12.30pm, and visiting hairdressers and barber shops in the city centre on Thursday 23 May.
Asda Wolverhampton will be hosting awareness raising activities on Tuesday 21 May, while West Midlands Police will be highlighting personal safety at Springvale Library on Wednesday 22 May from 4pm to 6pm, Sainsburys in Wolverhampton on Friday 24 May from 5pm to 7pm and Asda Wolverhampton on Saturday 25 May from 5pm to 7pm.
Compton Care is hosting a range of activities, including a Playlist for Life session for patients and their families on the same day from 10.30am to 12pm, a Life Café session for patients and carers on Tuesday 21 May from 10.30am to noon and Bhangra dancing on Friday 24 May from 10.30am to 11.30am.
As well as Dementia Friends training to its staff and volunteers, Compton Care will be delivering sessions for carers entitled A Proactive Guide to Caring for Someone With Dementia at the Bob Jones Community Hub in Blakenhall on Wednesday 22 May from 10am to 11.30am, 12pm to 1.30pm and 2.30pm to 4pm, the latter of which will be in Punjabi. For details of all the Compton Care activities, please contact Marianne Grant on 01902 774586
St Aiden's Church on Mount Road in Penn is holding 3 events to mark Dementia Action Week – a Dementia Friends session open to everyone on Monday 20 May from 2pm to 2.30pm, an Essentially English Evening of fun and food in aid of the Alzheimer's Society on Wednesday 22 May from 7pm to 9.30pm and a Beetle Drive on Friday 24 May from 2pm to 4pm. For details, please email grannyashotn56@gmail.com or call 01902 341943.
The Church of the Epiphany in Oxley is holding a dementia friendly service for residents at Wulfrun Rose Nursing Home on Wednesday 22 May, while on the same day Wolverhampton Homes, West Midlands Fire Service, the Royal School and the City of Wolverhampton Council are teaming up to run an intergenerational session for local people affected by dementia at Swanmore Community Centre.
There will be an awareness raising event at the African Caribbean Community Initiative Heritage Centre on Thursday 23 May from 11am to 3pm, with food and drink available, while St Columba’s Day Centre in Finchfield is holding a fundraising bring and buy sale on Wednesday 22 May from 9am to 12pm.
Also during the week, Dementia Champion Karen Perry, from Fiddle Fingers Quilts, will be delivering a Dementia Friends session to 100 pupils at the Royal School, while the City of Wolverhampton College's Board of Governors will also be undertaking to become Dementia Friends and committing the college to becoming dementia friendly. Accord Housing’s Board will also become Dementia Friends and commit the group to becoming dementia friendly.
The extensive programme comes to an end on Friday 24 May with the Dementia Action Alliance's annual Celebration and Recognition Event, giving an overview of the Alliance's work in the last 12 months and recognising the achievements of individuals and organisations which have worked to make Wolverhampton more dementia friendly.
On the same day, Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust’s Dementia Outreach Service will be holding a fundraising comedy evening with hypnotist Simon Sez at Corpus Christi Social Centre. The fun starts at 7pm and tickets are £15 available from rwh-tr.dementia@nhs.net or on 01902 307999 extension 8495.
Before all that, there will be a quiz night organised by the Alzheimer’s Society at Woodfield Sports and Social Club in Penn on Friday 17 May from 7pm – for details please call Lee Allen on 07484 084656.
Other regular events taking place this month include the popular Memory Cafés at West Park tea room every Wednesday from 1pm to 3pm and at the Grand Theatre on the last Friday of the month from 10am to noon, and the 3 Dementia Cafes run by the Alzheimer’s Society at Linden House, Tettenhall Road, on the first Tuesday of the month from 10am to noon, Wednesfield Community Centre, Well Lane, from 10am to noon on the second Tuesday of the month and Bilston People's Centre, Wolverhampton Street, on the first Friday of the month from 2pm to 4pm.
David Watts, the City of Wolverhampton Council's Director of Adult Services, said: "As a city we are proud to have been awarded Dementia Friendly Community status and Dementia Action Week is an opportunity to showcase the many services available to support people living with this debilitating condition, and their families and friends.
"We would also like to encourage more people in Wolverhampton to become a Dementia Friend – and in doing so join the two and a half million Dementia Friends nationally who better understand the needs of people living with dementia and can do their bit to help them. You can do this either by joining one of the Dementia Friends sessions taking place during Dementia Action Week, or by visiting Dementia Friends.”
Dementia affects nearly a million people in the UK, including approximately 3,600 in Wolverhampton. For more information about the help and support available locally, please visit Dementia.
People who are worried about dementia can contact the Alzheimer's Society for information and support either via the National Dementia Helpline on 0300 222 1122 or by visiting Alzheimer’s Society.
Dementia Action Week, from 20 to 26 May, is organised by the Alzheimer's Society and unites people, workplaces, schools and communities to take action and improve the lives of people living with dementia. For more information, visit Dementia Action Week 2019.
The City of Wolverhampton was officially granted Dementia Friendly Community status by the Alzheimer's Society in December 2017 in recognition of the efforts being made to improve services for people living with dementia, and their families and carers. Meanwhile, Wolverhampton Dementia Action Alliance was the winner in the Dementia Friendly Community of the Year city or county category at last year’s Alzheimer’s Society's Dementia Friendly Awards.
