People are being encouraged to become a Dementia Friend as Wolverhampton prepares to mark Dementia Awareness Week, which runs from Sunday 15 May to Saturday 21 May, 2016. The Dementia Friends programme, run by the Alzheimer’s Society, is the biggest ever initiative to alter people’s perceptions of dementia. It aims to get people change the way they think, talk and act about the condition by learning more dementia and the small ways they can help someone living with it.
People can become a Dementia Friend by attending one of the face to face information sessions being held during Dementia Awareness Week.
They will take place at the University of Wolverhampton on Monday 16 May and Friday 20 May from 10am-11.30am and at Epic Café, Lichfield Street, on Saturday 21 May from 11am-noon. For more information, and to register for the sessions, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. regarding the sessions at the university and This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for the session at Epic Café.
Alternatively, people can become Dementia Friends by visiting the Dementia Friends website at www.dementiafriends.org.uk and watching a short film. The Alzheimer's Society will also be holding special Dementia Friends sessions for City of Wolverhampton Council staff during Dementia Awareness Week.
Anthony Ivko, the City of Wolverhampton Council's Service Director for Older People, said: "Dementia is a debilitating condition which affects nearly a million people in the UK, including 3,600 in Wolverhampton. "Dementia Friends is about learning more about dementia and the small ways people can help. I’d encourage residents to become a Dementia Friend – and in doing so join the 1.5m Dementia Friends nationally who better understand the needs of people living with dementia."
Members of Wolverhampton's Dementia Action Alliance have arranged a series of events and activities throughout Dementia Awareness Week, from information and advice sessions to a charity football match at Molineux Stadium, and are encouraging people who are worried that they, or someone close to them, may have the condition to find out more about the support available to them. Please visit www.wolverhampton.gov.uk/dementia for more details.
