Local shops and businesses get behind Dementia Friends campaign

Employees from Everyone Active at Enderby Leisure and Golf Centre as well as those from Waitrose, Tanya Harris Heirdressing and Edmonds & Slatter in Blaby have benefited from attending a session to raise their understanding of dementia – demonstrating their commitment to becoming more dementia-friendly.

This is all part of a drive to make Blaby District a dementia-friendly community.

Blaby District Council is working in partnership with the Alzheimer’s Society and other members of the local Dementia Action Alliance to make this a reality.

The Alzheimer’s Society estimates that 225,000 people in the UK will develop dementia this year; that’s one every three minutes. One in four people with dementia has given up shopping since being diagnosed.

Cllr Sheila Scott, portfolio holder for Health Improvement and Leisure Services at Blaby District Council, said:

“Blaby District has an increasing ageing population and we know that the number of people living with dementia is expected to almost double in the coming years. We want to ensure that people with dementia and their carers and families continue to feel part of their local community.
“As a result, we are helping local shops and businesses to become more dementia-friendly so as to keep those – and new – customers using their services for as long as possible. With several larger retailers in the district already signed up to the Dementia Friends initiative, it makes good business sense for local shops and services to get behind it too.”

Dementia Friends is an Alzheimer’s Society initiative funded by the Department of Health which aims to give one million people a better understanding of dementia by 2015.

Blaby District Council will be running free one-hour Dementia Friends Information Sessions to shops and businesses across the district.

To find out more or to book your place, contact Zoe Coulson on 0116 2727566 or email strategic.partnerships@blaby.gov.uk

For more information about Dementia Friends visit www.dementiafriends.org.uk

For more information about the Leicestershire Dementia Action alliance visit www.dementiaaction.org.uk/local_alliances/59_leicestershire_dementia_action_alliance