Supporter emails – December 2021

May those of us at BDAA thank you for your support and encouragement throughout a very challenging year,
We have lots of ideas to increase Dementia awareness in Bristol in 2022 and are recruiting two additional part – time staff to help us accomplish this.
In the meantime, we at BDAA wish you and yours a very Happy Christmas and Peaceful new year.

We will be taking a well earned rest over the festive season but will be checking emails. 
Sadly the Christmas Concert at Westbury Baptist Church with the Cantanti Choir this Saturday 18th December has been postponed for now.

Thanks to John at HomeInstead for forwarding these lovely cinema events which are going ahead.

‘Disabled Women Take Action’.
Bristol Women’s Voice are empowering women to share their experiences and work towards positive change by joining our Women’s Action Group. This community will provide an opportunity to meet with others on a monthly basis, in person and on-line, to identify common goals and influence practical and policy changes across Bristol, whilst also developing your skills and experiences through volunteering.
This partnership project is being delivered by Bristol Women’s Voice and WECIL, and has been developed following the City Listening Project. Supported by the Government Equalities Office (GEO), the City Listening Project focused on enabling the voices of women, particularly those that frequently go unheard, to contribute to better policy-making: https://www.bristolwomensvoice.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/CLP-report-FINAL-1.pdf
If you are or know of other people that might be interested in this project, get in touch: dwta@bristolwomensvoice.org.uk

Thank you so much to The John James Bristol Foundation for generously giving us funding for our Happy Days Christmas meal. Due to recent covid developments, we took the sad decision to deliver the meals instead of having a gathering in person. But Christmas still continues with our wonderful volunteers delivering the meals, cupcakes and goodie bags generously provided by Zurich staff to ensure everyone has a lovely day. We’ll catch up on zoom at 2pm on Friday 3rd December to wish each other a Happy Christmas.

Tony’s interview as a carer on John Darvall’s Radio Bristol show last Thursday is available on BBC Sounds  – from 26 mins to 31 mins
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0b12qvh. 

Thank you again to Coop Community Fund for their amazing support of our work. Tony hosted an information stand and received this cheque last Saturday at the Stoke Lane store.

It was so lovely to receive this after one of Tony’s talks to a local Brownie group. If you would like a dementia awareness session for your group please get in touch.

Please do nominate us for this funding: https://movementforgood.com/12days/index.php?cn=1167404&ct=health

Thanks to Anne Ellis for this updated version of her newsletter.

Bristol Hippodrome have a relaxed performance of our panto Snow White on Thu 16 December at 2pm. The aim of a relaxed performance is to make everyone feel safe and comfortable during the show. Especially for people who might not be able to attend a regular performance because they get overwhelmed by large crowds, loud noises or lighting effects. During a relaxed performance, the audience is allowed to talk and/or leave when they feel like they need break in quiet space. In general this helps people with sensory or learning disabilities and families with very young children, but we believe it could also really benefit people with dementia or older people who might find it difficult to focus on a show during a regular performance.
We are trying to reach as many people who could benefit from a relaxed performance as possible, to show producers that these performances are necessary to help make theatre more accessible to everyone.
Here’s the link to the relaxed performance for more information: https://www.atgtickets.com/relaxed-performances/pantomimes/bristol/