Reading Council Staff Volunteer as Dementia Friends

Reading Borough Council is supporting the Alzheimer’s Society’s Dementia Friends campaign as part its ongoing commitment to making Reading a dementia friendly town.

With the goal of creating a million Dementia Friends across England by 2015, the initiative aims to give people a better understanding of the condition and suggest ways in which we can all support people with dementia.

Two councillors joined 31 staff – from departments including highways and transport, libraries, environmental health, and finance as well as social care – for voluntary Dementia Friends training. They learnt how dementia is not part of the natural ageing process but is caused by diseases of the brain; that it is not just about losing your memory and that there is more to the person than just the dementia; and that it is possible to live well with dementia.

Attendees were encouraged to sign up to individual actions by registering on the Dementia Friends website www.dementiafriends.org.uk.

Dementia actions can include:
• behaving patiently with someone showing the signs of dementia
• spending more time with, helping or supporting a friend or relative affected by dementia
• signposting people affected by dementia to more information and support
• volunteering with an organisation to support people with dementia
• fundraising for a dementia-related cause
• helping your workplace to be more dementia friendly
• spreading the word about Dementia Friends