Supporter emails – October 2021

Thanks to Norrms for starting this petition: MAKE DEMENTIA TRAINING MANDATORY FOR ALL CARERS AND NURSES. Please sign.

Thanks to Bristol Age UK for their latest newsletter. Good information about some local groups.

Thanks to BRACE for their latest magazine and Alzheimer’s Society for the latest edition of Dementia Voice.

We’ve hesitated to share this – it is the heart-breaking story of Anna who first showed symptoms of FTD (frontotemporal dementia) at just 36 years old and sadly died 5 years later. Her mother Christine explains how they first noticed Anna was behaving differently at Christmas and that she was initially diagnosed with depression before eventually getting a dementia diagnosis nearly a year later. Christine describes how they lost Anna the day the symptoms first showed up.
Dr Sarah Jarvis explains how it can be challenging to get a diagnosis because a lot of the symptoms overlap with other conditions. She stated that there are 65,000 people with Young Onset Dementia under 65 years old in the UK.
Listen here from 1.08-1.33

There are nearly 5,000 people living with Dementia in Bristol, of which 1000 are Young People with Dementia (Young being defined as working age). BDAA co-hosted a webinar “Supporting Young People with Dementia” last year. Since then, we’ve formed a Young Onset Dementia working group and our volunteers are running monthly Carers support groups and focus groups for people living with YOD and their carers. We have also set up The Denim Generation Facebook group for people living with YOD, their carers and professionals or people connected with dementia to share resources. If you would like to attend our next working group which is on 28th October at 6pm please contact us on office@bdaa.org.uk for the zoom link.

Bristol Health Partners would like to hear from you if you have had a recent diagnosis, you are living long term with dementia, or are or have cared for someone with dementia. This is a valuable chance for people with dementia to feed into the dementia model of care as part of the wider Ageing Well strategy. 
Further details here.

Thanks to BOPF for sharing this:
BRISTOL HABOURSIDE FESTIVAL 50th ANIVERSARY 2022.  WE WANT YOUR VEWS!
Please find below a link to a really interesting survey designed by Kate Webb, working with Bristol City Council.  She is keen to find out how next year’s 50th anniversary of the Bristol Harbour Festival can be more welcoming to older people.  So if you can spare a few minutes please fill it in and get your views included.
We need responses by October 15th. https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/FFZHRGH

Carers Support Centre is offering Media Training for Carers on Thursday 4th November, 10.30am to 12.30pm – via Zoom. It will be a 2-hour interactive workshop focussed on radio interviews.
We will explore the importance of sharing carers’ stories in the media and help carers recognise that they have a story to tell. We are hoping that a representative from BBC Radio Bristol will join us to support the training too. We will cover:

  • Why do we do media interviews?
  • What makes a good interview?
  • How to prepare for a media interview.

The aim is to give carers the tools and confidence to say yes to radio interviews in the future.
Contact Freya on: FreyaJ@carerssupportcentre.org.uk  0117 958 9903

This sounds good – matinee performance on 15th November
http://redgravetheatre.com/…/happy-days-are-here…/1002/

Great to read that Bristol Beacon has an updated website which includes information about their community work. We know they are supporting people with dementia. 

“Coping with the Pandemic” A review of the past year at our BDAA AGM (with accounts & policies) will be on Thursday 21st October at 6pm. We’re hosting it online for ease this year.  Please email us on office@bdaa.org.uk for the zoom link. We promise it won’t be long or boring! ‘-)

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. 

“Coping in a Pandemic” A review of the past year at our BDAA AGM (with accounts & policies) is TONIGHT at 6pm-7pm.
We’re hosting it online for ease this year.
We promise it won’t be long or boring! ‘-)

Here is the zoom link: 
https://zoom.us/j/94972274802?pwd=bXJ0ZzdQNU1hdUdMNC9tMFQzL2RDUT09
Meeting ID: 949 7227 4802
Passcode: 965883

Here is our agenda:

  1. Welcome
  2. “Coping in a Pandemic” (Annual Report)
  3. Finance
  4. Safeguarding Policy
  5. Auction
  6. Dunk a Donut
  7. AOB

We hope you can join us.

We’ve been incredibly busy this year – not just moving our work online but also collaborating with others to offer free webinars on a variety of subjects. We’ve received funding to offer more MP3 players, paid for more dementia wristbands, sent out weekly update emails and supported others as we can.

We have also spent this year reviewing our charity and we are excited to announce that we have two part-time positions available to support our growth going forward. We are not here to build an empire, but rather to continue to build a Dementia Friendly City. Please get in touch if you have the skills to be a Volunteer Co-ordinator or Fundraiser on 8 hours a week (each role) to support us to make Bristol The Dementia Friendly City in the UK. Please share with your networks.

We shared briefly last week that we are excited to be recruiting two part-time roles to join our team and take our little charity forward. 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.
 We had a great monthly Young Onset Dementia working group last night. So much is happening now with much more planned for the future. As well as running Carers support groups and Focus Groups in person for people living with YOD and their loved ones, a walking group is started up.
The South Glos Young Onset Dementia Walking Group has been set up and to start things off we are planning to meet on the 2nd Friday of each month over the next 4 months as follows:
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.  If the car park is full there’s road parking usually on Sunbridge Park which you’ll have turned off.  We plan to finish around 12 noon. New Walkers to the Group will have to complete a Walker’s Registration Form.  The form will be sent out once we know who would like to join a us.  (This form will only be required once, and is sent to S Glos Council for their records following confidentiality and GDPR guidance).
Kingsgate Park has footpaths that we can follow and plenty of places to sit down, there are no steps and just a few slight inclines.  Each walk will be a ‘gentle’ and will take around 30 minutes or so.  There are public toilets, including a disabled toilet.  Toilets are also available at the cafe.  After the walk we plan to go to the Bird Cage Cafe and Walkers would be welcome to join us.
We would be very grateful if you would pass on this information to anyone you know who would like to join us or any professionals who may be in contact with people with Young Onset Dementia.   
Contact Jo and Sue on joanne_oneill@hotmail.com or call 07981 740 549

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.

There”s still time to book your BRACE Together for Dementia 2021 online ticket for next Tuesday 2nd November.

Thanks to BRACE for their latest newsletter.

This fundraising Christmas Concert featuring Keynsham Brass band on 11th December sounds great fun. It’s to support Henleaze Singing For The Brain (a singing group which supports people with Dementia and their families).

Memory Connections Groups (Dementia MCST) in South Gloucestershire is now taking referrals and self-referrals for a second group which will take place at the Winterbourne Community Centre (WADCA) on Wednesday mornings 10-12am. 
They have limited places for the Monday 2-4pm group at The Park Centre in Kingswood. 

Playlist for Life – online Playlist Maker
Would you like to make a playlist on Spotify but don’t know how to get started? Our playlist maker can help! Click on the link below, follow a few simple steps and our playlist maker will do the rest.
https://www.playlistforlife.org.uk/make-a-spotify-playlist/

Great to read that Purple Angel Campaign is getting this support for it’s wonderful free MP3 players.

The Carers Support Centre offer a free program of training for carers in Bristol and S. Glos to support their wellbeing and to provide carers with the skills and knowledge to help them with their caring role.  

  • ‘First aid’ online workshop
  • Wednesday 3rd November from 10.00 to 11.30, via Zoom 
  • Participants will learn about every day first aid. The aim is to build confidence so they can help someone in a first aid emergency, using the objects that they have around them. This workshop is specifically aimed at adults and run by the British Red Cross.
  • ‘Good sleep’ online workshop
  • Tuesday 23rd and Thursday 25th November from 1.30 to 2.30 p.m., via Zoom
  • Join our interactive workshop, delivered via Zoom over two sessions, to find out how we can aid good sleep, including practical exercises you can do at home. An essential for all carers! 
  • ‘Healthy eating for carers’ online workshop and cooking demonstration
  • Wednesday 8th December from 3.30 to 5.00 p.m., via Zoom 
  • Join this informative and positive workshop to explore some guidelines for a healthy eating way of life for you and the person you carer for with useful tips to make eating healthily an enjoyable experience. 

Carers can book a place by calling on 0117 958 9988 or by emailing training@carerssupportcentre.org.uk

Thanks to Alive for letting us know about the opportunity for free livestream tickets for older members of the community for Wuthering Heights at Bristol Old Vic.
It is a total run-time of 2 hrs 45 mins, including 15-minute interval and is being shown at 7:30pm on Thursday 4th, Friday 5th and Saturday 6th  November, with an additional matinee performance at 2pm on Saturday 6th. 

Thanks to Maureen for sharing this My Life My Goals workbook.

Thanks to BOPF for sending this request:
My name is Saffron Quaife. I am studying for an MSc in Information Management at UWE and researching how older people interact with online services (computer, smart phone, tablet etc). The Covid pandemic has resulted in more people learning new computer on-line skills to keep in touch with friends, family, news and information, so I am particularly interested in how this has affected older people. If you have five minutes to spare,  I would be grateful if you could complete the questionnaire found here: https://uwe.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_23ttnQXFt9W0eeW 
If you have any questions please contact me at saffron2.quaife@live.uwe.ac.uk.

Thanks to BOPF for their latest newsletter, it’s packed full of information. Home Instead is recruiting caregivers.