Check back here regularly to find out what's going on at The Pam Britton Trust for Dementia.
February 2023
On a group activity basis, we now have 11 local support groups open again to face to face sessions across the wider Warwick area network. We have produced and started distributing Version 10 of The Little Pocket Book of Support, covering all groups in the area, as a Carer if you haven't got a copy yet please contact us and we will send one in the Post. We are very happy to take calls and are also keeping in touch with various attendees and group leaders, renewing interaction, activities, community and respite now the weeks of isolation have eased. The Group Network too is again active and here are some contact numbers for Carers and family members for advice and support;
-Admiral Nurse, (Dementia UK) 0800 888 6678
-Dementia Connect, 0333 150 3456
2023
As the Trust enters its ninth year and we reflect on its work over the period, we are left with mixed feelings as to what has been achieved and what could have been better.
Regarding the now very active Network of Community Support Groups we help support across the wider Warwick district, all are doing well and they offer Carers and their loved one living with the illness, a wide variety of choice relating to their chosen theme, it might be based on music, craft activities, table games, just a cuppa & natter or a combination of these, they seem to have evolved depending on their attendees. Many Carers however go to a selection over any given month, giving them respite and distraction for both parties involved in a dementia journey, and this was our intent when developing and producing the first ‘Little Pocket Book of Support’ in late 2017. Now in its 10th edition with an ever increasing circulation and with each print run of at least 500 copies. It has proved very useful to Carers and families, particularly those newly through the diagnosis process.
We are also very pleased to have initiated and funded an annual Dementia Conference in the area to showcase Health and Community resources available around Dementia. The three events to date have proved very successful, with Carers being able to take their time with the professionals whilst their loved one is well cared for and entertained. One of the spin offs it that the professionals attending also get a chance to network and learn, which they tell us has been really helpful for them too. Another outcome has been the growth of our ‘Network’ of local support Group Leaders, now meeting 3 times a year. Its prime aim being the sharing of knowledge and resources, along with benefiting from learning about the latest developments in dementia and focused support.
One of our new focus areas is in providing access to those Carers who need it, bespoke Advocacy Services. Where those living with Dementia and their Carers are not getting what they are entitled to, either in Care support or financial entitlements, then we can direct them to a source of help, and we can fund this professional support if appropriate too.