Supporter emails – November 2021

Tony will be at Stoke Lane Co-op tomorrow (27th November) from 12 for an hour or so with our leaflets. Please pop by and say Hi if you are local and feel free to help out 😉
We are so lucky that Co-op is again supporting us through it’s community fund. Please nominate BDAA as your Co-op charity.

We are delighted that the Christmas Concert at Westbury Baptist Church with the Cantanti Choir on Saturday 18th December will be on behalf of BDAA. Please see this poster for further details.
We’re looking forward to our Happy Days Christmas meal on Friday 3rd December @ 12.00 – spaces are limited so please contact us on office@bdaa.org.uk if you would like to attend.

A huge thank you to Shakti for hosting another mini facial Neal’s Yard event last Friday night. The event raised an amazing £228 for BDAA which helps us so much.

Alzheimer’s Society is looking for volunteers to work within a team of volunteers, with supervision from a role manager, to deliver a group enabling people living with dementia to participate in activities and to meet others in a relaxed, supportive environment. Further details here.

This exhibition about unpaid carers looks really powerful: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-59376728

Thank you to Alzheimer’s Society – Anne Ellis for the latest North Somerset Newsletter and for sharing these Christmas events.
Portishead Memory Cafe meets at the Jubilee Day Centre on the first and third Tuesdays of each month. 

Doorstep Carols 2021. This carol event sounds lovely. Trymview Hall has carols in their car park for locals. Here are the words.

We are so delighted to have received an amazing Â£2,950.88 for being part of the Coop Community Fund last year. We are thrilled to have been chosen again this year. You can select BDAA as your chosen charity by following the instructions on this page – no matter where you live in the UK!

We are delighted that the Christmas Concert at Westbury Baptist Church with the Cantanti Choir on Saturday 18th December will be on behalf of BDAA. Please see this poster for further details.

This BRACE webinar on Thursday 25th November, 2- 3pm will be good:
What does the Government’s new Social Care Bill mean for your family?
The average monthly cost of nursing care in a care home costs £3552 per month.
The costs of living in a care home â€“ food, energy bills and the accommodation will not count towards the £86,000 cap that is offered to all families from October 2023.

Thank you to Julie for sharing this:
Healthwatch Bristol are embarking on a project looking at the experience of Discharge to Assess , with a focus on the more complex Pathway 3 route. ( Typically this involves people with complex needs that need to spend some time in a care setting after discharge from hospital while their care at home needs are calculated)
We are hoping to engage with a full range of patients, family , carers and staff from all communities and build a rich picture around the statistics and data already in place . Our first phase has involved working with various stakeholders and interested parties to co-produce three sets of survey questions  ( links below) . With analysis from the responses and further contacts established, we will then co-design and action a series of focus groups and one to one in-depth interviews to  capture a person centred perspective of care.
We would be most grateful if you could share the survey links where you feel appropriate with 1) Patients (current & former) 2) Family and Carers and 3) Care staff in order to facilitate this ( the closing date is Dec 30th) – we will of course feedback findings and include your views in the report should you wish to complete the survey or email me . Thank you.
PATIENTS https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/CN63GB9
FAMILY & CARERS https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/CFN9YKS
STAFF https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/CXVQZPW

The Centre for Ageing and Dementia Research (CADR) are presenting a webinar on 
How to Learn Lessons from Lockdown: The Need for Collaboration in Age Related Research
on 23rd November at 12pm
COVID-19 has had devastating effects worldwide. The greatest impact on health outcomes has been on people over 65 years, and those with underlying health conditions. The UK sought to mitigate the effects of the pandemic by restricting population movement and prioritising COVID-19 in the health care system. These measures were crucial in slowing disease transmission, reducing burden on the NHS and reducing virus-related mortality. However, disruption in routine health and social care and increased social isolation will have a longer-term effects.
As a team we wish to investigate the impact of the ‘lockdown’ on the health and well-being of older people in Wales. Our research project will encompass four interlinked work packages to seek to answer this important question. We will guide you through the research project and showcase how our differing areas of expertise will help to answer this research question using a multi-disciplinary approach.
Presented by: Mari Jones, Liv Kosnes, Maria Cheshire-Allen, Emma Richards.
Please register here: https://swanseauniversity.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_VN6cUjD2Tq-rAVrj-J3KZA

Please click on this link to nominate us to receive £1,000.
 Thank you to Bristol Age UK for their latest newsletter.

We’re looking forward to our Happy Days Christmas meal on Friday 3rd December @ 12.00 – spaces are limited so please contact us on office@bdaa.org.uk if you would like to attend.

Our next Dementia Friendly Church: Meaningful Worship and Dementia webinar is on Tuesday 16th November 10.30-12.00. 

We thought you might be interested in some of our other news:

We had great fun for Happy Days’ 6th birthday last week. Lots of cake and laughter! Have a look at the photos on our Facebook page. Looking forward to our Christmas meal on Friday 3rd December – spaces are limited so please contact us on office@bdaa.org.uk if you would like to attend.


There’s still just time to apply for either of our two part-time roles to join our small team – deadline the end of tomorrow – 12th November. Here is a poster – please do share with your networks. Further details including job descriptions can be found on Voscur’s website – Volunteer Coordinator and Fundraiser.

Please click on this link to nominate us to receive £1,000.

Join us for a  Neal’s Yard Christmas facial and gifts online event on November 19th 7-8pm. We always have so much fun on these and the samples are lovely and smell amazing. We run these as a fundraiser for BDAA so it’s £10 to join plus a small Eventbrite joining fee. Please invite your friends – let’s make this a lovely seasonal evening 😉

A massive thank you to Tora Budo Kai for holding a fundraising event and donating an amazing £1500 to BDAA! Tony joined the event on the day and our deputy chair Chris received the cheque recently. Every donation we receive makes a big difference to our small charity. 

Great to see some more information on the Avon & Somerset Police website about the dementia wristbands scheme. 
 Thank you to Sirona care and health for this letter from Dehoarding South West CIC service with a new date of the hoarding support group.

£4.8bn in Budget to local governments to plug social care; Alzheimer’s Society responds by saying ‘not enough’

Delighted to hear that All Saints is relaunching it’s dementia friendly cafe on Thursday 2nd December. Details here.

Light up a Life This Christmas – this is so lovely from BRACE – an opportunity to post a photo and dedication to a loved one.
Christmas is all about the people we love.  It’s a time to celebrate the people in our lives.  A moment to cherish the memories and time we spent together. Join our BRACE Dementia Research ‘Light Up a Life Appeal’ this Christmas. Post a photo, write a dedication and if you wish, make a donation in support of world class dementia research. Posting a dedication for your loved one is completely free of charge.

Third year trainee clinical psychologist Clare Jones has asked for help with her thesis which is based on perceptions of wisdom in older adults. Further details here. She would be very grateful if any carers or family members who might be appropriate would be interested/willing to view and/or complete the following link: https://exetercles.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4HnBeQvHQayuC8e

Next Bristol Research Forum on Ageing…Housing Options for Older People: Staying Connected and Keeping Independent. 25th November at 2pm. Further information and tickets here.

It’s been a while since we have mentioned Western Power’s Priority Services which provides extra help and additional support during a power cut for elderly, very ill or disabled people, or those who rely on power for medical equipment. 

This sounds great: Christmas Taster Event from Your Village Shop, Stoke Gifford Retirement Village, BS16 1YF

We are running monthly Young Onset Dementia Carers support groups and we’re starting a monthly South Glos Young Onset Dementia Walking Group:
Friday 12 November
Friday 10 December
Friday 14 January
Friday 11 February
This Walking Group is for people with a diagnosis of Young Onset Dementia (under the age of 65) and their partner/carer/friend/supporter.  We will meet at 10.30am at the entrance to Kingsgate Park, Yate that’s near the little car park. The entrance is at the end of a very short road called ‘Elmwood’,  BS37 4JB.
Contact Jo and Sue for details and to book your space on joanne_oneill@hotmail.com or call 07981 740 549

Thank you to Bristol Beacon for their latest newsletter and RWA for their newsletter.

It’s Happy Day’s 6th birthday today so our gathering will go with a bang! Join us for music by Storm Force 10 and lots of cake! 2-4pm at Westbury Baptist Church, 5th November.

There’s still time to apply for either of our two part-time roles to join our small team. Here is a poster – please do share with your networks. Further details including job descriptions can be found on Voscur’s website – Volunteer Coordinator and Fundraiser.
 Here’s the latest Dementia Voice Newsletter

Healthwatch is doing a study on hospital discharge to improve the service and they are looking for carers to have an input to the survey questions, before it goes out to patients, carers and professionals.
If you have 1/2 hour to spare, please send Julie Bird an email julie@healthwatchbristol.co.uk OR give her a call on 07944 369 180. She would really appreciate your input.
Further details on the project and the draft survey questions.

Our next Dementia Friendly Church: Meaningful Worship and Dementia webinar is on Tuesday 16th November 10.30-12.00. 

Join us for a  Neal’s Yard Christmas facial and gifts online event on November 19th 7-8pm. We always have so much fun on these and the samples are lovely and smell amazing. We run these as a fundraiser for BDAA so it’s £10 to join plus a small Eventbrite joining fee. Please invite your friends – let’s make this a lovely seasonal evening 😉

We are delighted that the Christmas Concert at Westbury Baptist Church with the Cantanti Choir on Saturday 18th December will be on behalf of BDAA. Further details to follow soon.

Thank you to CASS for this newsletter.

We are running monthly Young Onset Dementia Carers support groups and Focus Groups in person for people living with YOD and their loved ones, plus a monthly South Glos Young Onset Dementia Walking Group:
Friday 12 November
Friday 10 December
Friday 14 January
Friday 11 February
This Walking Group is for people with a diagnosis of Young Onset Dementia (under the age of 65) and their partner/carer/friend/supporter.  We will meet at 10.30am at the entrance to Kingsgate Park, Yate that’s near the little car park. The entrance is at the end of a very short road called ‘Elmwood’,  BS37 4JB.
Contact Jo and Sue on joanne_oneill@hotmail.com or call 07981 740 549

Get your Christmas waste & recycling collection dates for 2021
www.bristolwastecompany.co.uk/festive.